As an Australian the problem is largely what you imagine.
An unregulated industry brought in bikes that were closer to motorbikes than pushbikes and parents didnt do their due diligence on it. The same industry also brought in a huge amount of bikes that were perfectly sane when stock but were literally childs play to turn into something closer to a motorbike. Now the vast majority of kids went out and did kid shit and they were slightly annoying, a not insignificant number of them got hurt, but there was no real outcry.
The govt as governments are want to do reacted way too fucking slowly in putting sane limitations on what could and couldnt be sold and hold manufacturers and importers accountable. In their defence partly because 90% of them are coming out of china and the govt arent idiots in that they know how easy it would be for an importer to find a new frontman and the Chinese manufacturer to rebrand and force them to play whackamole and partly because they are very popular among adults and people who arent riding them like dickheads AND they didnt want to look anti-green by discouraging people to find car alternatives.
But Here come the fuckwits like takeovers are to “legitimate” street racing on quiet backroads, kids started doing wheelies through shopping centers while filming it for the gram, deciding it would be funny to absolutely destroy the grass and surfacing on local sporting fields and swerving in and out of traffic in 80 zones.
Its not that the cops dont care, the cops know what the reality is that if they start trying to catch them, the kids will run and eventually someones “good boy who never hurt anyone and loved to laugh” is going “to be chased to his death over a modified E-bike and the police are the reason for his death” regardless of what prompted them to chase him in the first place.
All in all its a 3 layer shit sandwich.
and parents didnt do their due diligence on it.
Pretty much sums up a lot.
Parents these days…In all seriousness its not exactly the most simple thing for a layman.
I speak petrolhead, so when you tell me something has a 2000W motor (Light bulbs and plug in heaters are measured in Watts. I honestly believe they do that on purpose to confuse the issue) I immediately do the conversion to 2kw, which is 2.6 hp on an e-bike that weighs 50kg. A 50cc Vespa makes 3.1hp and weighs 100kg. Now you throw a 50kg rider on there and you have a better power to weight ratio on the E-Bike, and shitloads more torque.
I mean banning teens seems a pretty good policy.
How do you know their age?
You cut them in half and count the rings.
It mentions it in the article.
Weird self report but okay
Wonder what you think about often.
I think what they were asking, is how the government is going to verify their age.
I can’t work out any other interpretation. What does Donebrach think it said?
So you can’t talk online and you can’t go out on a bike to meet your friends.
Just sounds like they want kids to be miserable.
“Why aren’t the kids going outside anymore?” “Why are there kids outside?!”
Let teens exist in public spaces for fuck’s sake.
They’re not allowed to have any sort of freedom anywhere, online or off. That’s the point of all these evil laws and that’s why we must resist
Australia, a prison state created for inmates, and perpetuated as such by their descendants. As a foreigner looking in, I think that Aussies would be best served by ditching the colonial prison mindset. You and the kids are allowed to have fun, if you ignore the specter of the Crown that created your nation.
…TLDR;
Does “people who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones” translate into American? Half of the rest of the world wakes up every day wondering if your leader has started WW3 over a twitter beef.
But no, you have fun.
Just because America is in a crappy state, is no excuse for Australians or anyone else on a given patch of dirt to allow their nation be enshittified. You should consider America as a warning, of what can happen if your politics become rotten.
The sheer ego in that statement.
Even Americans who are wholeheartedly opposed to whats happening cant stop condescending to everyone else like “If it could happen to the greatest nation on earth it could happen to you”
We know, we have always known. We’re no better than the Germans, the Italians or any other nation that slid into authoritarianism or facism. America believed it couldnt happen to them because they are just so exceptional, which is why it worked so god damn well.
I recently left an Aussie company whose shot caller was someone who was massively in favour of the social media ban and kept close tabs on her teenage kids’ phones. Ran the company like that, and it’s going under.
Seems like a pretty big logical leep to link the two things.
I dunno, can’t parents just keep their kids in a box till they’re 18 and can become productive, compliant wage slaves, like everyone else.
/s
Just ban teenagers. 🤷♂️
I know exactly how to solve this “problem” … Convert the golf courses into bike tracks.
I met one of these teens on a train he showed me a few news clips he was in with like 100 other teens on ebikes and scooters lol
“Get off your phones and meet people your age in real life!” “Wait not like that!”
Feels like kids can’t win these days.
It’s definitely on purpose
They can’t because people are irrational and stupid with regards to protecting children.
You let them leave the house and meet up with friends, next thing you know they are riding around on bikes! Where will it end?
Teens especially, since that law was catered more towards children. These days, teens are being disregarded and grouped in with children, even if they are vastly different.
The essential distinguishing factor.between who.is and who isn’t given adult rights isn’t developmental psychology, it’s weather you cam get away with denying them rights
Can’t wait for the e-bike gang wars of '26.
Waaaaaarriors! Come out to playay!
Should maybe be the Toecutter in Oz.
How do you think they arranged the meet ?
Just gotta keep making the world as hostile as possible to teenagers.
Because the school to prison pipeline can only do so much
Wrong country mate.
Here’s it’s school to tradie/lifelong indebted homeowner.
This is such a gross oversimplification, it’s insane. They could also join the military.
Prison and military are US things. The bloke up above got it…tradie, FIFO and indebted to a home loan.
Hey, a couple might be really good at football.
We’re trying very hard to make the world a hostile place, but climate change won’t really kick in until the next generation.
It’s fucking disgusting. I have every part of this abusive shit. We have to fight back
Maybe ban Australia from having people. Problem solved
There’s a ‘fuck off were full’ movement but it’s not quite what you would hope.
Yeah, I was going to say that the problem actually appears to be children.
No, the problem is that parenting became a bad word or something, so you have feral critters loud mouthing and sometimes assaulting their own parents, who in turn complain the government should fix it.
But it’s never the parents’ fault…
The answer is simple: ban teens
That’s pretty much it. Ban them from congregating in parking lots. Ban them from malls. But if your kid has friends over and one sneaks beer and has a wreck, you’re getting sued. But don’t discipline your kids or that’s abuse. Also, if you kid has a vape at school, they are getting a criminal charge. Whatever you do, don’t allow kids to exist, especially with other kids outside of your house, but also, don’t let them be entertained when they’re bored either.
My point is, maybe it’s all too complicated and there should be a different approach.
Maybe if we started treating people as human beings regardless of age? Or is that too radical?
Radical, yet reasonable.
if you ban them from dancing, there are going to be a lot of rebellious movies that get made.
To quote somebody famous: “Teenagers scare the living shit out of me”
if you don’t institute battle royal, you’ll pretty soon end up with mad max.
“We really recognise the tremendous opportunity that ebikes can offer for getting anyone, including younger people, from A to B, independently,” McLean said. “[It] is a really, really positive thing that connects them to education, to work, to social things and communities as well.
“There’s lots of benefits that go along with them, but when we have really high powered ebikes and people driving them dangerously and without helmets, then they certainly pose a significant risk.”
Seems like a pretty balanced take honestly.
If it goes faster than 28 mph, has a motor more powerful than 1000w, or lacks usable pedals, it’s not an e-bike at all. People riding these things get people who ride actual electric bicycles fucked over though, which is unfortunate because electric assisted bicycles open up a lot of opportunities for people who are elderly or have other physical disabilities.
I am all for making e-moto and e-bikes legally distinct but punishing cyclists because of e-moto bullshit is a stupid decision. Also, parents who buy their kids motorcycles with no training, safety gear, or evaluation of their child’s judgement should be held accountable instead of the people who are just trying to get to work on an e-bike.
parents who
How dare you blame the parents!?
/sWith ease! Parent your kids everyone!
Yeah I completely agree. This exact issue kind of triggers me, and I did draft a longer diatribe complaining about exactly this, which I didn’t post.
I have an assortment of bikes including e-bikes, all of which I love equally. They’re truly amazing machines.
If you purchase a $200 k-mart commuter, and a $400 wheel hub motor and battery from temu, then perch a 12 year old precariously in the saddle that’s not an e-bike it’s an unregistered unregulated electric motorbike. This type of set up can easily achieve 50km/h with the majority more like 60km/h and some exceeding 80km/h.
The bikes just aren’t built for this kind of stress, and the people riding them don’t have a reasonable understanding of the risks. They scream around on bike paths weaving around kids and babies in strollers.
The current rules here in west aus (as I understand them) merely allow pedal assist up to 25 km/h. Critically, that means the bike can allow you to switch between modes providing more or less assistance, but no throttle. Additionally a lot of the temu bikes require you to move the pedals but do not require you to provide any effort - the pedals moving is more like a switch that allows the motor to engage.
The basic problem is that existing legislation just isn’t sufficient. Guilting parents isn’t enough. There needs to be better laws, and they need to be actively policed.
If the media won’t generate the click bait lemmy’s demand, they’ll create it themselves.
you expect other people commenting to actually read the article?
